Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015

1.1 Introduction

Before we take a look at the Construction Design and Management Regulations in practice, we are first going to explore the legislation itself. The Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015, which are also known as CDM 2015 or CDM Regulations, were put into place on 6th April 2015.

These regulations govern the way in which construction projects of all different sizes and types are planned in the UK and aim to ensure and improve the health, safety and wellbeing of those who work in construction. The overall goal is to reduce the risk of harm to those who build, use and maintain structures, and the regulations also place legal duties on all of those involved in a construction project, which are enforceable by criminal law.

The regulations replaced the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and are available to help anyone with duties under the regulations.

They describe:

a.The law that applies to the whole construction process on all construction projects, from concept to completion

b.What each duty-holder must or should do to comply with the law, to ensure that projects are carried out in a way that secures health and safety.

The legislation is broken down into five parts, which we are now going to look at in more detail in the following sections.

1.2 Part One: Interpretation and Definitions

Along with introducing the legislation, the first part includes interpretation and definitions.

Within the definitions, the CDM regulations specify the following:

Client

This means any person for whom a project is carried out.

Construction phase

This means the period of time beginning when construction work in a project starts and ending when construction work in that project is completed.

Construction site

This includes any place where construction work is being carried out or to which the workers have access, but it does not include a workplace within the site which is set aside for purposes other than construction work.

Construction work

This means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work.

It includes:

1. The construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance (including cleaning which involves the use of water or an abrasive at high pressure, or the use of corrosive or toxic substances), decommissioning, demolition or dismantling of a structure

2. The preparation for an intended structure, including site clearance, exploration, investigation (but not site survey) and excavation (but not pre-construction archaeological investigations), and the clearance or preparation of the site or structure for use or occupation at its conclusion

3. The assembly on site of prefabricated elements to form a structure or the disassembly on site of the prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure

4. The removal of a structure, or of any product or waste resulting from demolition or dismantling of a structure, or from disassembly of prefabricated elements which immediately before such disassembly formed such a structure

5. The installation, commissioning, maintenance, repair or removal of mechanical, electrical, gas, compressed air, hydraulic, telecommunications, computer or similar services which are normally fixed within or to a structure

1.3 Part Two: Client Duties

This part includes client duties in relation to managing projects, appointment of the principal designer and the principal contractor, notification and application to domestic clients. We will take a closer look at this part in later modules and examine its regulations in more detail.

1.4 Part Three: Health and Safety Duties and Rules

Part Three is another part that we will explore in much more detail in later modules, as it includes the legal responsibilities of important duty-holders, along with information regarding the three key documents: the Pre-construction Plan, the Construction Phase,Plan and the Health and Safety File. We will closely examine each of these.

In full, Part Three includes:

1.General duties

2.Duties of designers

3.Designs prepared or modiβied outside Great Britain

4.Duties of a principal designer in relation to health and safety and the pre-construction phase

5.Construction Phase Plan and Health and Safety File

6.Duties of a principal contractor in relation to health and safety at the construction phase

7.Principal contractor's duties to consult and engage with workers

8.Duties of contractors

1.5 Part Four: General Requirements for all Construction Sites

These are general regulations that must be followed on construction sites for common and specific hazards.

These include:

1.Application of Part Four

2.Safe places of construction work

3.Good order and site security

4.Stability of structures

5.Demolition or dismantling

6.Explosives

7.Excavations

8.Cofferdams and caissons

9.Reports of inspections

10.Energy distribution installations

11.Prevention of drowning

12.Traffic routes

13.Vehicles

14.Prevention of risk from fire, flooding or asphyxiation

15.Emergency procedures

16.Emergency routes and exits

17.Fire detection and βire βighting

18.Fresh air

19.Temperature and weather protection

20.Lighting

1.6 Part Five: General Enforcement in Respect of Fire

Like the previous part, this part deals with general enforcement and regulations for construction which include:

1.Enforcement in respect of fire

2.Transitional and saving provisions

3.Revocation and consequential amendments

4.Review

1.7 Supplementary Schedules

These five parts are further supplemented with five schedules, which focus on the following:

Schedule 1:

Particulars to be notified.

Schedule 2:

Minimum welfare facilities required for construction sites.

This includes:

1.Sanitary conveniences

2.Washing facilities

3.Drinking water

4.Changing rooms and lockers

5.Facilities for rest

Schedule 3:

Work involving particular risks.

Schedule 4:

Transition from 2007-2015

The main changes from the CDM Regulations 2007 are:

1.The regulations now apply to all clients of construction projects, whether or not a person is acting in the course or furtherance of a business

2.Pre-construction archaeological investigations are not included within the scope of the definition of construction work

3.The role of CDM co-ordinator has been removed, and various duties have been recast including client duties and general duties

A client is required to appoint a principal designer, as well as a principal contractor, in any project where there is, or it is reasonably foreseeable that there will be, more than one contractor working on the project Under the 2007 Regulations, appointments for similar roles were required for notifiable projects; the duty to notify now lies with a client, and the threshold for notification is raised

Schedule 5:

Amendments and other legislation.

1.8 Key Documents

Included throughout the legislation are the three key documents that are involved in construction design and management.

We will go into extensive detail on these documents in later modules, but we will briefly identify them now, as follows:

1.The Pre-construction Information

This is information that is necessary to provide to principal contractors, as well as to the designers in charge of the project.

It serves two purposes:

1. The first is to provide a focus at which health and safety considerations of the designs are brought together under the control of the principal designer.

2. The second is in the tender documentation, as it enables prospective principal contractors to be aware of the project's health and safety requirements.

2. The Construction Phase Plan (CPP)

This sets out the arrangements for securing the health and safety of everyone involved in the construction work and also deals with the site rules and specific measures concerning particular high-risk works. As such, it should contain the site rules, induction, welfare facilities and fire and emergency procedures.

3. The Health and Safety File

This is a record of information for the client, which focuses on health and safety that serves to alert those who are responsible for the structure of the key health and safety risks that will need to be addressed. The amount of detail should correlate with, and be proportionate to, the scale and complexity of the structure and project. It is important to note that the file is only required for projects involving more than one contractor.

MODULE SUMMARY

In this module, we have looked at the legislation of the Construction Design and Management regulations (or CDM) 2015. We looked in detail at the Five parts of the legislation and the Five schedules that follow them. Finally, we started to look at the three key documents: the Pre-construction Information, the Construction Phase Plan and the Health and Safety File, which will be explored in further detail in later modules.

In Module 2, we will discuss the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).